Extending people's working life is seen as a key element in curtailing the rising costs of public pensions as well as the looming labour shortages associated with an ageing population. In the countries of the OECD and of the European Union a host of initiatives have been taken which aim to delay retirement and support labour force participation of older workers. At the government level,these initiatives vary from pension reforms and new legislation. But how do employers react at the organisational level: do they support later retirement? To address this issue we will discuss the results from survey research among employers in five European countries: the Netherlands,the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece and Hungary.

Many of the Member States of the European Union,including the Netherlands,are searching for ways to attract highly skilled migrants as a (partial) remedy against a shrinking and ageing population.In addition to economic motives,it is also important to pay attention to how these migrants want to shape their lives in their new country of residence:knowledge migration may be surrounded by specific aspects of geographic and social mobility.

Population decline has only entered the policy agenda recently at the national level,and the Dutch government is weighing its role when dealing with this emerging population issue.Policy reactions will differ per policy domain.But especially in the spatial domain an active role in creating conditions to deal with the impact of population decline is obvious.